I work with livestock because I like working with animals. I enjoy taking care of them in all conditions and would never intentionally harm an animal. The care and well-being of my livestock is first and foremost in my thoughts at all times. The safety, comfort and health of my animals on my ranch come first, period.
I make this statement because recently an undercover video of animal abuse on a dairy farm has surfaced. I do not know how long it took to get the several minutes of footage, the circumstances it was shot in or how it was obtained. What I do know is that kind of treatment is not acceptable anytime or anyplace.
Every occupation has its bad people and that is exactly what you see in the video. Let me assure you that 99.9999% of all producers are good, decent people who respect the animals they spend their life raising. I don't know how many thousands of producers that Mercy for Animals had to go to and how many years they spent looking for someone like this but the abuse documented in this video is certainly extreme and unacceptable. It breaks my heart to watch it.
The only person I can speak for is me, but I would never, under any circumstances abuse one of my animals. While I know that the purpose of the livestock I raise is ultimately for food, I also believe that their health, comfort and safety is my number one job. The livestock I own depend on my care for their every need. I strive each and every day to make their time with me as comfortable and stress-free as possible.
I hope you will take the video at its face value. It is one or two bad people doing bad things and it certainly does not represent the vast majority of the hardworking men and women who work on family livestock farms. This is another reminder that we as farmers and ranchers need to reach out to our customers. I promise as you get to know us personally, you will realize that we care about our animals and treat them with dignity and respect.
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I truly believe that most ranchers care about their livestock. They always put the health and welfare of the livestock first. I hope that one bad seed doesn't taint the perception of all the good ranchers out there.
ReplyDeleteDo you really think that video is real? I mean - I know they are mistreating the animals and I don't want to admit what I or any of our guys on our farm would like to do the people, but for real? This couldn't have been happening for very long without the owner knowing it. I didn't watch the video, but the guys said the idiot doing the beating was looking directly into the camera. The camera was extremely steady also.
ReplyDeleteThis whole thing sounds like a set up. I, as a dairy owner would certainly see signs of abuse. Also, what owner would treat his "income" that way? It is just too fishy for me.
We are like the majority of dairy owners. We take good care of what God gave us. They get what they need before we do. I can't remember the last vacation we took, but a year ago the BEBs (bowned eyed bossies) got new mattresses. This whole thing is disgusting. Thanks for shining the light on the true way most of us dairy people treat our animals.
I am not sure about the validity of the video but I agree that the filming is almost too staged. At very least one would have thought that one of these "animal activists" would have turned in the people handing out the abuse rather than tape it for several months. In any case, I cannot condone any treatment of any animal like that we saw on this tape.
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